Monday, December 8, 2014

The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, by Guy Kawasaki & Peg Fitzpatrick

Portfolio/Penguin Group USA, ISBN 9781591848073, December 2014

Guy Kawasaki has been in the forefront of effective promotion of products, services, and one's own skills and talents since his days as the Chief Evangelist for the Apple Macintosh, when personal computers were the exciting new toy and not an appliance we all carry in our pockets. Instead of being left behind by the rapidly changing world of online computing and social media, he has remained a leader, and has become of a great teacher of how to use the same skills and tools for your own benefit. If you have a social media presence--and it's getting harder and harder to function, especially as a working professional or entrepreneur, without one, you want to use these tools effectively.
Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick have between them mastered all the social media tools you'll want to use. This book is a short, clear, practical presentation of what Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest are good for, and how you can use them. Social media platforms are also, of course, opportunities to make a fool of yourself before a public of a size almost unimaginable for the average person twenty years ago. There are also helpful pointers here on how to avoid doing that. This includes guidance on the ways the different platforms are different. What's acceptable on Facebook isn't what is acceptable on LinkedIn, or Twitter, or Pinterest. Go hashtag-happy on Pinterest, but be more restrained on Twitter, for instance. You'll find guidance on how to present yourself effectively, both to potential future employers and to peers.

I want to emphasize that this book is clear. You won't be left with useful-sounding platitudes but then find when you try to follow them that the specifics you need aren't there. The specifics are here, including visuals where that's helpful.

Highly recommended.

The Art of Social Media Google+ Hangout with Guy Kawasaki

I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.